ottawa – the co-chair of canada’s vaccine advisory committee says anyone who took the astrazeneca vaccine did the right thing and shouldn’t feel they got a second-best vaccine.
dr. caroline quach-thanh, the co-chair of the national advisory council on immunization, put out a statement late wednesday night, clarifying comments she made earlier this week.
when naci released its recommendation on the johnson & johnson vaccine,
the advisory committee said
canadians who can wait for an mrna vaccine, like pfizer or moderna, should do so, rather than taking a viral-vector type vaccine like johnson & johnson, or astrazeneca.
quach-thanh said she was not trying to suggest the astrazeneca vaccine, which over one million canadians have already received, was a second-best choice.
“people who did get their astrazeneca vaccine, mainly when covid-19 was being transmitted in their community, actually did the right thing. they protected themselves and their families against covid-19 complications,” she said in a statement emailed to reporters.
naci’s preference for the mrna vaccines was criticized by health professionals for sowing confusion and anxiety. some said it would create a two-tier vaccine policy.